Decorative Art. Albert Jacquemart
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served the same purpose as today’s armoires. It was also used as a seat, and even as a table. As for the smaller chests or caskets, they varied as much in shape as in material, and those made of gold, silver, precious woods, chased or enamelled copper played an important part in the elegant life and the splendour of the Middle Ages. The custom of locking not only valuable jewels, but also cash in coffers caused the name to be adopted to express the finances of king or state.
Sideboard, late 16th century. Golden walnut wood.
The hutch is, again, another type of coffer or bahut, sometimes called arche, huceau, hucheau, huchel, and buffet. The hucheau was not as large as the huche, and nothing enables us to distinguish whether the other varieties of the name indicated a difference of form or use.
To return to our primitive workmen, the carpenters naturally held art as a secondary rank. Solidity, it may well be imagined, was the first qualification for these chests, which were destined for frequent journeys on the back of powerful sumpter horses, to circulate through the winding staircases and narrow passages of the feudal towers, and bear the weight of those who used them as a seat. Accordingly, one of the most ancient decorations consisted in the application of complicated iron mounts, which added strength to skilfully fashioned woods. The Musée Carnavalet of Paris possesses one of these coffers, iron-bound in the same way and perhaps by the same hand as the celebrated entrance doors of Notre Dame de Paris, one of the masterpieces of the 18th century.
From the close of the 11th century, however, the necessity of embellishing with ornaments in relief became understood and such objects were constantly placed within sight. This was required in order to create a greater harmony with the splendour of hangings and dress. They even went farther by covering broad surfaces with gold backgrounds, embellished by paintings. In the following century elegance of form came into consideration. It ushered rounded wood into the construction of furniture, and then in the 13th century the grounds were ornamented with sculptures of low relief.
During these two centuries, however, furniture remained within very narrow limits. As we have just observed, hutches and bahuts constituted its basis having clothing, linen, valuables, and money as their main consignment. The bed came next, then the chair of the master of the house, high-backed benches, some stools, the cabinet, which was moveable and permitted circulation around it for the convenience of service, and the sideboard in the form of a shelf, on which tablecloths were spread at meals, and the most valuable plates were laid out on the narrow shelves which rose in steps at the back. The beds were surrounded with curtains suspended by a system of cords, and the larger pieces of furniture were ornamented with portable cushions and Saracenic carpets.
Octagonal table, c. 1480–1500. Oak wood, 75 × 90.5 × 79 cm. Musée de Cluny, Paris.
The 13th century, while bringing more advanced developmental tools, also caused a separation amongst the workmen specially employed in the construction of furniture, who thenceforth were divided into two different classes: carpenters and joiners. The first applied themselves solely to massive works; the others, advancing further and further into the domain of art, became assimilated with the ymaigiers or sculptors themselves. They traced flowery patterns with elegant scrolls of foliage on the pliant wood to form the framework of personages and scenes from sacred or profane history, or else representing in Gothic or square compartments subjects of fables or legendary songs.
In the 14th century and early years of the 15th, elegant luxury was primarily displayed in rich fabrics and tapestries made to cover furniture, seats and benches. The flowing draperies of the beds partook of this taste, which originated with the Crusades, and was initially inspired by the sight of the magnificent fabrics of the East. Sculpture, nevertheless, continued its progress, and even Italian woodwork began to show Oriental derivation.
In the 15th century, the appearance of a bedroom is thus represented. The curtains of the bedstead are tied back in order to display its costly coverlets; on one side sits the master’s chair, then the devotional picture or small domestic altar attached to the wall. The armoire and other small pieces of furniture were arranged around the room, and often in front of an immense fireplace was a high-backed seat where one came to seek warmth. This arrangement, which can be seen in miniatures and tapestries taken from various sources, proves the uniformity of lifestyles in the different classes of society. Here we find figures whose dress and elegance denote their high position; here, again, are plain citizens surrounded by their serving men and a number of objects which allow us to judge that the room is in one moment the bedroom, the reception room in another, and also the family refectory. If we enter the study of a statesman or writer, we find the monumental high-backed chair, a revolving desk with a turning wheel intended to keep a number of books close within reach, lecterns, and various other types of desks for writing.
This age also corresponds with the complete expansion of Gothic architecture and furniture. The furniture is divided into flamboyant Gothic cloisters, crowned by fine needle-shaped sticks and flourishing leaves; their niches contain elegantly quaint figures, and the panels, with their bas-reliefs, rival the perfection of altarpieces and religious triptychs of intricate workmanship. Accordingly, no part of these articles of furniture was covered so that the artist’s ingenious conceptions could be easily viewed, unless a covering was absolutely necessary. Much of this furniture served only for luxurious display, while that which was destined for travelling remained simple in form and was modestly concealed in those parts of the dwelling reserved for private life.
We will not extend this brief sketch any further, for, from the 16th century, both public and private life is pictured in so large a number of monuments, paintings, tapestries, engravings and manuscripts that it would be superfluous to attempt an analysis essentially colourless beside the originals. Now, rather than study furniture as a whole, we will view it broken down into genre so as to show its progress, connections and appreciate its styles in their successive transformations.
“Joinville” sideboard, c. 1524. Carved wood, 144 cm. Castle of Écouen, Musée national de la Renaissance.
“Harpys” sideboard, c. 1560–1570. Carved wood, 147 cm. Castle of Écouen, Musée national de la Renaissance.
Carved wooden furniture
What we said previously about the uses of primitive furniture renders it needless to insist on the fact that the greater part of it was made of oak. Nothing less than this solid material assembled by robust carpenters could serve for resisting the endless jolting of constant journeys. Understandably, it is unnecessary to dwell long on the subject of the first chests, the majority of which must have disappeared. It is when art begins to manifest itself that interest commences. We have already mentioned the iron-bound coffer of the Musée Carnavalet of Paris. We will also examine, as a characteristic of the end of the 13th century, the curious piece purchased by the Musée de Cluny. It is a bahut of which the sides are ornamented with arches framing figures of men-at-arms in full armour and jugglers. One end exhibits a riding warrior and the other has a tree with diverging branches laden with leaves. The top, slightly rounded, is of squared medallions containing scenes illustrative of both customs and military figures. The ironwork is in a more advanced style of art than the wood; indeed we may set the beginning of the 13th century as the peak of ironwork.
A sort of gap occurs between this period and the 15th century when examples become plentiful, a gap which is filled with works in sculpture and sufficiently manifests the trial and error of art. During this period of transition, the various names by which furniture workers were associated is obvious proof of the indecision existing in the exercise of their trade; few are called carpenters, others are huchiers and coffer makers, finally the title carpenter appears to encompass them all, so to speak, with the new form of art and elegancies. To find cabinet makers, we must pass over another century and enter the full period of the Renaissance.
A similar chest from the same collection is also valuable on more than one account. Of undeniable Italian origin, it is sculpted with ornaments of an elegant Gothic style, which are curiously combined with certain antique and Romanesque reminiscences. The upper